Military Orophone? What's This?

[NashTwin8]

Hi Everybody,

I have a couple of questions I can probably find answers to here, so here we go.

I have a Victrola VV-IX (I think, or it could be a VV-VIII, but it's located about 80 miles from where I am right now, so I can't go and check.) I bought this little tabletop machine when I was 14 or 15 years old, for the princely sum of $15. The cabinet doesn't look terribly beautiful, but it does look old, and the machine has always played reasonably well. It broke a spring once, and I replaced that, but otherwise I've never really done anything to it but play it, fairly sporadically over the past 10 years. My interest has been rekindled recently, thanks to boards like this one, so I've played the machine a bit more regularly these past couple of months, when I'm in the same location as the machine (which is stored at my second home, and I'm not there most of the time.)

Anyway, last weekend I moved the machine across the living room, and I heard the tone arm move under the closed lid, and it hit the side; not real hard, but enough to know that it happened. When I lifted the lid, the sound box and the swivel portion of the tone arm it mounts on were slanted. When I attempted to gently move them back into proper position, the swivel came apart from the taper tube.

Question 1: In looking at the taper tube and the swivel section, it looks to me like they were soldered together (they are brass), but I'm not sure. How are these things assembled?

Since it was now loose in my hand, I took a closer look at the sound box than I ever have before. All these 35 (or so) years I have been assuming that this machine was all original. The sound box is painted black on the side opposite the needle clamp, and between the black color, the way it fit with the swivel arm-end and the generally dim light under the phono's lid, I had never been able to read the writing on it.

Well, now I can see what it says, and it doesn't say anything about Victor Talking Machine Co. Here's what it does say:

NO. 90 MILITARY ORO-PHONE
THE ORO-TONE CO. CHICAGO U.S.A.

Question 2: What is this thing? Have I been harboring a mild Frankenphone all these years?

It appears to be in basically good condition; no cracks or scars beyond normal wear & tear.

Thanks for any and all comments/observations/information.

Take care,

Jerry K

[MordEth]

Jerry,

While I will let someone far more knowledgeable than I respond to you, I found this and thought I’d share it with this thread:

ORO-PHONE

The ORO-PHONE was manufactured by the ORO-TONE Company of Chicago, Illinois in the mid 1920’s.

The machine sported a reproducer that bore a strong resemblance to a Victor Orthophonic. Combined with the name, it appears the company was attempting to leverage the Orthophonic name recognition. The turntable was a diminutive six inches.

Dimensions: 5 inches high, 11.5 inches wide, 12 inches deep.

(Information and image reproduced from this page on Phono-holics Anonymous.)

[hr][/hr]
Without seeing the machine you have, I’d not want to hazard a guess whether it was a Frankenphone or merely some other machine made by this company.

Hope this helps.

— MordEth

[MordEth]

Here’s something else that I found, from the ‘World of Gramophones’. On this page of reproducers, they show an ORO-PHONE reproducer:

However, it does not sound as if this is the sound-box that you have on your machine.

It might be interesting if someone were to start a thread with their interesting reproducer images; I had never seen the one that Starkton uses as an avatar, for example.

Your friendly internet daemon,

MordEth

[Neophone]

Jerry,

Without seeing it it's hard to tell anything. Since reproducers are somewhat interchangeable that may well be the only piece not original. My VV-IV came with a Silvertone Tru-Phonic reproducer. I'm sure a lot of people "updated" their older machines with aluminum diaphragm-ed Sound-Boxes when electrically recorded records came out.

What exactly broke on the Taper-Tube? The "T" that the U-Tube/goose-neck fits into? See the photo below...

(This is a one of my early, poor efforts at photo/diagram making.)

Regards,
John

[NashTwin8]

Jerry,

The ORO-PHONE was manufactured by the ORO-TONE Company of Chicago, Illinois in the mid 1920’s.

The machine sported a reproducer that bore a strong resemblance to a Victor Orthophonic. Combined with the name, it appears the company was attempting to leverage the Orthophonic name recognition. The turntable was a diminutive six inches.


Hope this helps.

— MordEth

David,

Thanks for the quick response! I hadn't really thought of the play on "Orthophonic", but you're right, "Oro-Phone" does at least suggest that more famous name.

You're right, too, that the sound box photo you posted does not resemble the one I have, but it's very possible the one on the phonograph you posted does; the picture doesn't show it very well.

Thanks for the help.

Jerry

[NashTwin8]

I'm sure a lot of people "updated" their older machines with aluminum diaphragm-ed Sound-Boxes when electrically recorded records came out.

What exactly broke on the Taper-Tube? The "T" that the U-Tube/goose-neck fits into?

John,

Thanks for your comments. I don't yet know enough to analyze things like this on my own. Now that you mention it, yes, this Oro-Phone sound box does have an aluminum diaphragm. So that would have been considered a modernization or an upgrade? Interesting.

Yes, the part that broke off is what I think you're describing as the "T", it's what the U-shaped tube fits into and swivels on. Other than the sound box, the rest of the tone arm look exactly like the photo you posted, except it has no automatic brake (neither the tone arm nor the turntable/motorboard has an automatic brake.)

So, can anyone tell me how the "T" and the Taper-Tube were joined together?

Thanks again for any help.

Jerry

[MordEth]

Thanks for the quick response! I hadn't really thought of the play on "Orthophonic", but you're right, "Oro-Phone" does at least suggest that more famous name.

Jerry,

I did not even consider that parallel at all, so you were not alone in not thinking about it. I spent a little while looking for it on Google, but apart from auctions and the like, the two sources I referenced above were the bulk of useful information on this company (and possibly your machine?).

I’m rather curious now whether you have a Frankenphone or not. Either way, though, I think it’s interesting that some of us may have gotten to learn about another company because of it.

You're right, too, that the sound box photo you posted does not resemble the one I have, but it's very possible the one on the phonograph you posted does; the picture doesn't show it very well.

It did not sound like it (from your description), but as John said above, it’s kind of hard to tell without pictures. And regrettably, the sites I looked at did not have better ORO-PHONE pictures.

Thanks for the help.

You’re very welcome, although I think ultimately, other members are going to be a lot more helpful with you getting that fully sorted out. While John may slag his diagramming skill, he provides very good illustrations for conveying what the parts are, and does a very good job of communicating information.

I think he (and other similarly helpful members) will be of great assistance to you.

I’m just good at searching and image manipulation.

— MordEth

[Steve]

An excellent sounding reproducer that is often found on an outstanding lateral Edison adapter.

Steve